Board Members

Experience, expertise and professionalism

Board members have extensive experience in a wide range of disciplines required to oversee a complex pension plan. They are drawn from the fields of business management, finance, investment management, actuarial science, economics, education and accounting.

Jean Turmel

Chair

Appointed 2007

Affiliations: Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Jean Turmel became president of Perseus Capital Inc., a fund management firm, in 2005. He serves on the board of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Mr. Turmel enjoyed a 25-year career at the National Bank of Canada, where he retired as president of Financial Markets, Treasury and Investment Bank. His career spans more than 40 years of capital markets experience, with positions at Merrill Lynch, Royal Securities and Dominion Securities prior to joining National Bank as vice-president, Treasury and Foreign Exchange in 1981. He is a former Chair of the Montreal Derivatives Exchange.

Mr. Turmel holds a B.Comm. and an MA from Laval University and is a recipient of a Doctorate Honoris Causa. He is also a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal for his contribution to the Canadian investment industry.

Bill Chinery

Chair, Human Resources & Compensation Committee

Member, Audit & Actuarial Committee and Governance committees

Appointed 2015

Bill Chinery was CEO of BlackRock Asset Management Canada until early 2013. During his 13 years with BlackRock and its predecessor Barclays Global Investors, Mr. Chinery was a Managing Director in both the Toronto and San Francisco offices with various responsibilities including heading the Latin America and the Americas Institutional Business.

Prior to BlackRock, Mr. Chinery spent six years as Senior Vice-President, Quantitative Products at YMG Capital Management Inc. He started his career at Mercer where he had account responsibility for some of the largest pension plans in Canada. Mr. Chinery also started the Mercer Investment Consulting practice.

Mr. Chinery holds a BMath from the University of Waterloo, is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D). He is currently Chair of the Salvation Army Investment Committee and Chair of the Independent Review Committee for the Sun Life Investment Management Institutional Pooled Funds.

Patti Croft

Member, Audit & Actuarial and Governance Committees

Appointed 2016

Patti Croft has extensive expertise in global macroeconomics and the financial sector. She began her career at Burns Fry before moving on to CIBC Wood Gundy. Ms. Croft has been the Chief Economist with RBC Global Asset Management; Phillips, Hager and North; Sceptre Investment Counsel and TD Canada Trust.

Ms. Croft is Vice Chair of the Ontario Pension Board. She is a past director and founding member of Women in Capital Markets and past director of the International Foundation for Employee Benefit Plans, Canadian Medical Association Holdings Inc. and the Boilermakers' National Pension Plan Canada. Ms. Croft holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Toronto and the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D).

Lise Fournel

Chair, Operational Risk Committee

Member, Audit and Actuarial Committee

Appointed 2016

Lise Fournel was Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada until early 2017. She is a technology expert with a global perspective in marketing and revenue management and e-commerce. Over her more than 35 year career with Air Canada, Ms. Fournel has held increasingly senior positions in Technology, Strategic Planning and Passenger Commercial. She was also President of Destina.ca.

Ms. Fournel sits on the board of l'Université de Montréal and is presently a member of its Technology Committee. She has also served on a number of not-for-profit boards, including Tourisme Montréal, CIREM and Musée Pointe-à-Callière, and is involved with the Canadian Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Ms. Fournel earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics from l'Université de Montréal and completed graduate studies in Business Administration at Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal.

Gene Lewis

Appointed 2018

Gene Lewis started his career as an elementary school teacher in Ontario and was later appointed principal. He served as General Secretary of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario from 1998 until his retirement in 2013. During his career, he was an active participant on the Ontario Teachers' Federation Executive and on its Board of Governors. Mr. Lewis gained extensive experience and expertise in the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan by serving on committees such as the Ontario Teachers' Sustainability Workgroup and the Partners' Consultative Committee.

Mr. Lewis also previously served as President of the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation. He is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds a Master of Education from the University of Western Ontario. In 2002, Mr. Lewis was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal in recognition for his service to education.

Steve N. McGirr

Steve McGirr was Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer of CIBC until 2007. Prior to that, he was President of CIBC World Markets, and held a number of key leadership positions over a 24-year career at CIBC World Markets and Wood Gundy.

Mr. McGirr has served as a director of two public companies: TrustMark Auto Group Inc. and First Caribbean International Bank, as well as private companies including CIBC Offshore Banking Services Corporation (Barbados), CIBC Offshore Services Inc. and CIBC World Markets Plc (UK).

Mr. McGirr is currently a Director and Chair of the Investment Committee of Wellspring, a cancer support network, a member of the Queen's University Cabinet, and Senior Advisor to Lazard Canada Inc. He has an MPA and BA (Hons) from Queen's University. In 2004 Mr. McGirr received the Distinguished Service Award from the Province of Saskatchewan in recognition of his outstanding contributions to numerous public projects.

John Murray

Member, Audit & Actuarial and Governance Committees

Appointed 2014

John Murray served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 until his retirement from the Bank in 2014. As a member of the Bank's Governing Council, he shared responsibility for decisions on monetary policy, financial system stability, and strategic direction. Mr. Murray joined the Bank of Canada in 1980 and held progressively senior roles in his 34-year career.

Mr. Murray holds a BComm from Queen's University, and an MA and PhD in Economics from Princeton University. After completing his PhD, Mr. Murray taught at the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor and at the University of North Carolina as a visiting assistant professor. He also lectured at Princeton University. He is an adjunct professor at Queen's University, as well as a visiting scholar and adviser at the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Murray also sits on the investment committee of the Canadian Medical Protective Association.

Kathleen O’Neill

Member, Audit & Actuarial and Operational Risk Committees

Appointed 2016

Kathleen O'Neill is an experienced corporate director, and is currently on the boards of Finning International Inc., ARC Resources Ltd. and Invesco Canada Funds. She was Executive Vice President, Personal & Commercial Development and Head of Small Business Banking at BMO Bank of Montreal until January 2005, and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers prior to that.

Ms. O'Neill is on the Ontario Advisory Council for the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) and is a frequent instructor and examiner for the ICD. She is also a member of the Accounting Advisory Committee for the ICD and sits on CPA Canada's Corporate Oversight and Governance Advisory Board. Ms. O'Neill is past chair of both St Joseph's Health Centre Foundation and St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto and served on the board of Cadillac Fairview until early 2017.

Ms. O'Neill is a chartered accountant (CPA), a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (FCPA), and holds the Institute of Corporate Directors designation (ICD.D). She earned a BCom from the University of Toronto. In 2014, 2015 and 2016 she was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN, and in 2009 she received the World of Difference Award from the International Alliance for Women.

Barbara Palk

Barbara Palk retired from TD Asset Management as president, with three decades of institutional investment management experience. She now serves on the boards of Crombie REIT, First National Financial and TD Asset Management USA Funds Inc.

Previously, Ms. Palk served on the boards of the Canadian Coalition of Good Governance, the Investment Counselling Association of Canada, the Shaw Festival, the Perimeter Institute, Greenwood College School and Unicef Canada. She is the former Chair of the Board of Trustees at Queen's University.

Ms. Palk is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute and a CFA charterholder. She earned a BA (Hons) in Economics from Queen's University and is a recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Award and the Queen's Jubilee Medal. She has been named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

Mr. Smith has served on numerous boards throughout his 40-year career. He is currently Chair (and founding chair) of the Small Departments Audit Committee of the Government of Canada.

Mr. Smith is the former chair of the Government of Canada Audit Committee. He is a chartered accountant, a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA, FCA), and a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D). He holds a B.Comm. (Hons) from the University of Windsor.

Daniel Sullivan

Daniel Sullivan was consul general of Canada in New York from 2006 to 2011. He is the former Deputy Chair of Scotia Capital Inc., the corporate and investment banking division of Scotiabank, where he enjoyed a 38-year career. Mr. Sullivan also served as Chair and Director of the Toronto Stock Exchange and is former Chair of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada.

Mr. Sullivan has served on numerous boards, including Allied Properties, Allstream Inc., Cadillac Fairview, Camco Inc., Choice Properties, Monarch Development and Schneider Corp. He was chair of the board of St. Michael's Hospital and currently sits on the board of the hospital's foundation.

Mr. Sullivan is a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal for his contribution to the Canadian investment industry.